Manufactured homes, such as mobile homes, trailers, prefabricated homes, and the like are manufactured at a central manufacturing site and, upon completion, are moved to a location where they are to be occupied. Because these homes are designed to be easily moved from site to another, they are not built on permanent foundations but, rather, typically are placed on piers such as concrete blocks, pilings, or stabilizing jacks. Normally, the piers directly support the frame of the manufactured home which typically comprises two or more support beams, such as steel I-beams, to which the home is fixedly secured.
If the manufactured home is not anchored securely in position on its piers, the home can be shifted by strong winds or earth tremors which can cause the home to be forced from its foundation. Due to this risk, various types of stabilizing systems have been used to stabilize the manufactured homes on their piers to keep the homes from shifting in response to wind and/or seismic forces. In one particularly effective system, a plurality of tie-down straps are used to tether the manufactured home to the ground. In these systems, the tie-down straps typically extend perpendicularly outwardly from incremental positions along the length of the manufactured home. Usually, the tie-down straps extend downwardly from the support beams of the manufactured home frame to ground anchors that are deeply embedded into the soil. Often, the tie-down straps are securely connected to the beams with frame connectors that latch onto the support beams. Normally, these frame connectors comprise a metal clamp member that includes a hook which securely grips an upper flange of the support beam. The tie-down straps usually are threaded through a strap slot formed in the clamp member. These strap slots normally are configured so as to be parallel to the hook and the longitudinal direction of the manufactured home, such that the tie-down straps can be positioned substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the manufactured home.
Although functioning adequately under most circumstances, conventional frame connectors present several drawbacks. Most importantly, these frame connectors do not account for longitudinal shifting of the manufactured home due to wind or seismic forces. When a manufactured home shifts under the influence of such forces, the longitudinal position of the frame connectors, and their strap slots, likewise shift in the longitudinal direction. Because the ground attachment points of the tie-down straps are fixed by the anchors, the tie-down straps cannot similarly shift longitudinally, causing the tie-down straps to become arranged in diagonal orientations with respect to the manufactured home. In that the strap slots of the frame connector cannot reorient themselves to accommodate for the diagonal orientations of the straps, torsional stresses are concentrated on the straps at the point where the straps connect to the frame connectors. Such stress concentrations can similarly occur in situations in which the tie-down straps are improperly installed in a non-perpendicular orientation relative to the manufactured home. If large enough, these stresses can cause failure of one or more of the tie-down straps, placing the home in jeopardy of being forced from its foundation. Even if not causing strap failure, these torsional stresses can remove the stabilizing foundation system from compliance with the standards stipulated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
In addition to potentially creating harmful stress concentrations on the tie-down straps, conventional frame connectors do not positively lock to the manufactured home frame to prevent the frame connector from being separated from the frame when the manufactured home is shifted in the longitudinal or lateral direction. Specifically, the hooks of conventional frame connectors can dislodge from the flanges of the support beams, rendering the associated tie-down straps practically useless in securing the manufactured home in place on its foundation.
From the above, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a frame connector which does not create harmful stress concentrations on the tie-down strap when the strap is orientated in a non-perpendicular orientation with respect to the home. It can further be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a frame connector which positively locks to the manufactured home frame to prevent dislodging of the frame connector in response to home shifting.